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Costa Allegra: cruise safety back under the spotlight

Taken by the Seychelles coast guard shows the Costa Allegra cruise liner near Desroches Island. The Italian cruise ship from the same fleet as the tragedy-struck Costa Concordia is adrift off the Seychelles with more than 1,000 people on board

Just as cruise lines were hoping to see bookings recover, after at least 25 people died when the ship Costa Concordia capsized off the island of Giglio in Italy, another serious incident has reminded the world that accidents do happen at sea.

Allegra, an ageing ship operated by Costa Cruises, the Italian cruise line that also owns the wrecked Concordia, was last night drifting without power and light off the Seychelles - in waters known for piracy - after a fire in the engine room. It had 1,000 passengers and crew, including 31 Britons, on board.

The ship was left without power – electricity is needed for the engines to be operated – and light. Luckily they were in calm seas and 20 miles from land so there was no immediate danger of going aground. It would have been a very different had they been close to rocks or in rough seas that could have pushed the vessel ashore.

It’s an incident remarkably reminiscent of one in 2010, when a fire on Carnival Splendor, operated by Costa's sister company Carnival Cruise Lines, left that ship drifting without power off the coast of Mexico. Passengers had no light, air-conditioning or food. A fire also broke out on Hurtigruten’s Nordlys last year, killing two crew members.

After capsizing or sinking, a fire is the accident that ship captains fear most. It’s why, during the safety drill held on embarkation, passengers are told never to throw lighted cigarettes over the side of the ship (there is a chance they will blow back onto the ship) and never to use candles or unauthorised electrical items in their cabins. Even making the dessert Crepe Suzette has been banned by most lines because of the fire risk.

The call to muster must have been especially frightening for passengers on Allegra, coming just six weeks after the Costa Concordia accident. But where the Concordia accident ended in tragedy, with doubts have been raised about the evacuation procedure, everyone on the Allegra was accounted for. No one was injured or killed.

Accidents at sea are frightening, but thankfully they are also rare. It is often said by the industry that a cruise is the safest holiday you can take, but this assertion is now under even fiercer scrutiny.

First-timers will be worried about this incident, especially coming so fast after Concordia. I expect regular cruisers won’t be put off, although they will be looking for a cruise line that has a good track record when it comes to safety.

Costa Cruises is not one of those. Their track record was not good before Concordia – many people will remember that three crew member were killed when Costa Europa (now Thomson Dream) crashed into a dock in Sharm el Sheikh in 2010; now it is blotted forever.

Where that leaves Costa Cruises, a popular line with the Italians, remains to be seen. It has the backing of the giant US-based Carnival Corporation, so it will not collapse, but surely a new name and a new identity is on the cards.